Pete Jones, CEO of Neptune Energy
UKCS backers take big EPL hit
The basin’s champions over a challenging period may lose most from timing of the so-called windfall tax
One particular characteristic of the 25pc Energy Profits Levy (EPL) surcharge introduced in May by the UK government was a barrier to offsetting previous investment against income now subject to the tax. The logic was along similar lines to that driving the EPL’s introduction—the government did not want to read headlines about Shell or BP paying negligible UK tax bills while their corporate profits and the UK electorate’s gas and mobility fuel costs soared. But what of the smaller independents who invested in UK continental shelf (UKCS) projects, often through hostile investment climates, in the second half of the last decade and—while not in the media spotlight compared with the majors—f
Also in this section
13 March 2026
Brussels is again weighing a cap on gas prices amid the Hormuz crisis, but the measure could backfire by deterring the LNG cargoes Europe urgently needs
12 March 2026
Emergency oil stocks provide a last line of defence to oil market shocks, so the IEA’s unprecedented 400m bl release represents something of a double-edged sword
12 March 2026
LPG could rapidly expand access to clean cooking across Africa and prevent hundreds of thousands of deaths from indoor air pollution each year, but infrastructure shortages and regulatory barriers are slowing investment and market growth
11 March 2026
Missiles over Dubai and disruption in Hormuz are testing the emirate’s reputation—and shaking the energy hub at the centre of the Gulf economy
